haha washington is ridiculous with licenses even tabs. I would just get the combo like a couple people said you dont know where the year will take you. and you might want to look into a discovery pass now to most parks require one and most lakes i dont get where all this money is going we should have a better wildlife program than alaska and montana put together ;/

i dont get where all this money is going we should have a better wildlife program than alaska and montana put together ;/

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I suspect what you mean here is that, with the fees we pay, our F&W program should be much better than other states where people pay less. However, that's a pretty naive view.

The cost of maintaining a healthy F&W program in states with much larger areas of intact habitat and many, many fewer people (e.g., MT or AK), is going to be much less than to try to maintain some sort of F&W program in a state, such as WA, where the impact of development and hordes of people have left fragmented and decimated habitat and populations of fish and wildlife. We're lucky we're paying no more than we are, given the destructive practices we (yes, all of us are to blame...) have wrought on this state in the slightly over 100 years of statehood.

Its still cheaper than playing golf or most other hobbies... I will say that I fucking hate the fact I have to buy a Discover Pass though.. at the very least we should get discounted ones since we buy fishing / hunting licenses!

I'm going to look through the reg's, but I believe you were given the right info on sea run's, you can fish for them in the salt with just your freshwater license... I don't think the same applies to pinks, coho's, etc.. time to call the flipping lawyers!

What's the difference between a dead lawyer and a dead snake on the highway?

Buy a saltwater license if you're fishing the salt. Buy a columbia endorsement if you're fishing a river connected to the columbia. You can use your finger to trace it on a map. Go really slow, it's wildly confusing and actually very scary to have to look at a map. So big.... so many folds. HARD 2 REED!!!1

Anyone having serious trouble with figuring out what license to get... please PM me your social security number, bank account #, routing number, and mother's maiden name. I will be happy to straighten it all out for you.

If you fish in Salt water, buy the salt license.
If you fish in freshwater, buy the fresh license.
Take a look through the regs and decide whether you think there is a chance that you will fish one of the rivers that requires the columbia river endorsement--they are clearly marked.

I'd say that the licenses are one of the easier parts of the regs to understand. Openings and closures and special rules, etc are the more difficult part.

That seems pretty straightforward to me. I can't imagine they would allow you to fish for SRC in the salt without a salt license. It seems that anyone fishing the salt could just say that they are fishing for SRCs and never bother to buy the salt license--if they hooked a salmon or other fish, they could say it was an "accident." That doesn't make sense.

Since trout are listed in the marine area rules, I would think that you would need a saltwater license. A call or email to WDFW should get your question answered.

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Don't try to make it any worse that it is. If that was the case the folks over on the dry side would have to but a license that they would never use. You all have way to many licenses on fish that don't exist. Steelhead for one. I think that is just somebody's pipe dream.

In regards to the Columbia River endorsement, I see no reason to get it until you know that you are going to need it. It is very easy to pop in to a shop and add just the Columbia endorsement for 8 bucks.

I'm doing some salt water fishing in Florida as a non-resident. It is interesting to note the differences from Washington. The salt water regulations are about 2 pages, of course they have a lot more species here to list. If you live here and are 65, your salt/fresh water fishing license is FREE!

Hawaii doesn't have a saltwater fishing license... The freshwater license is $5 for resident and active duty military, and $10 for visitors. Since I'm over 65, mine is free. I also think I paid around $70 for my Montana visitors license last year.

Thanks for all of the feedback people. I went back and got the Saltwater license and punch card to go along with the freshwater license. The Columbia and it's tributaries adder pertains to salmon and steelhead fishing only on the east side. I wont be doing that so......